Strapless brassiere



Dec. 25, 1951 E. cADoUs 2,579,545

STRAPLESS BRASSIERE Filed June l5, 1949 3 Shees-Sheet 2 E. cADoUs STRAPLESS BRASSIERE Dec. 25, 1951 5 shees-sheet 3 Filed June l5 nverntor Gttorueg Patented Dec. 25, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT' OFFICE '2,579,545 sfrRAPLEss RAssIR-E Esther Qadous, New York, N. Y.

Application June `15, 1949, Serial No. 99,139

5 Claims.

This invention relates to strapless brassires and has foran `object to provide a brassire having noveljand improved means for supporting the same on the body of the wearer.

Another object is to provide a strapless brassire having novel and improved means for gripping the body for holding the brassire and the busts in place.

Another object is to provide a brassire having a gripping surface which is `soft and resilient, which is pervious to air, and which does not damage or irritate the skin.

Various other objects and` advantages Will be apparent as the nature of the invention is more fully disclosed.

In accordance with this invention the gripping area comprises a strip of non-Woven soft resilient stretchable and pervious material such for example as sponge rubber which is backed by a strengthening material which is also pervious and stretchable and may be made of one-way stretch material,` such `as Woven lastex 0r the like. The backing material imparts mechanical strength to the sponge rubber which in itself has but little mechanical strength. i Strips of this material are used for the back panels which extend from the sides of the brassire around the back of the Wearerand are arranged to be secured under tension so .as to provide the necessary gripping contact With the skin.

The material may also extend across the Afront ofthe brassire for supporting the stiiening Wires or the like and for forming a cushion to prevent the Wires from contacting the skin.

In one embodiment of the invention the lower part of the cups are also formed of sponge rubber which is so disposed as to exert a rm but soft support on the busts and to prevent the same from slipping out of place in the cups during use.

The brassire may constitute a separate garment or may constitute the upper part of a garment such as a slip, bathing suit, gov/n or the like, Ain which case the sponge rubber contacting surfaces supply the necessary support for the .1

entire garment.

In the above construction the pores of the sponge rubber and the permeable woven backing provide ventilation which is essential to the coinfort of the wearer and the surface peres of the spongerubber provide a soit roughened gripping surface which will not slip on the skin although it is soft and comfortable.

Both the .gripping action and the ventilation may be increased if desired by forming holes in the sponge rubber. These nolesrnoy extend el) or a part o i the Way through the sponge rub-x ber, but not through the backing .material and are` spaced over the surface of the sponge rubber as. desire@ The invention will be better understood by referring, to the Afollowing `description taken in connection with the `accompanying drawings 4in which certain speciiic embodiments thereof are set gior-th for purposes of illustration.

In the drawings;

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a brassire enibOClY-f ing the. present invention showing the same. in position on a wearer;

Fis- 2 is an inside `front elevation of a, Ancr-y tnn ci the brassire on a larger socle;

Fiss 3. 4 and 5 are sections taken on the lines 3--3L -it and 5--5 respectively of: Fig.

Flie-Y 6 is an. inside elevation Showing a modi-v iied forni of back panel;

Eig. is a section taken` `on the `line 1-..-1 of Fis. 6;

Fis. 8 is an inside elevation ci a brassire illustrating a further embodiment of thc invention;

Figs. 9, l0 and 11 are sections taken on `the lines 9 9, Iii- Iii and Il-v-,Hv of Fig. 8;

Fig. l2 is a front elevation oi a slip ,Show-ing the samen position on the wearer;

Fig. 13 is a rear elevation of the slip of Fig. 12;

Fig. 1,4. is an inside elevation of one type ci back strap used with the slip of Figs. 12 and `13,; and

Fig, 15 is an inside elevation of `a back strap r similar to Fig. 14, but showing a further embodiment of tbe invention- Referring to Figs. 1 to5 the brassire is ,ShDWn as compr.isirls a nailoi bust pockets c1? cups l0 which are formed of any suitable light weight material and are supported by a stiff wire 4cir-the like il which extends around the :upper edges o f beth bust pockets I!) and is formed with a horizcntal portion I'2 between the two pockets. The ends 4Iii of; the wire ll and the horizontal nortion l2 are attached to a front strip i4 which is ci pervious cushioning material. such sponge rubber. and is backed by a layer cf loon/inns fabric I5 te which it is secured by suitable means, such as cement. The fabric 5 is preferably nonstretchable although in Asome instances a stretchabile material, such as Woven lastex, may be used.

A panel .I8 of sponge rubber or similar mais rial is disposed in the ,lower portion oieacbb. .asi pocket and extends upwardly from the iront strip -IA to a point below the center of tbenpocket 3 In the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the panel I8 is formed with a curved upper edge I9 and with side-edges 29 which are secured to the Vfabric of the breast pocket IIl adjacent the wires Il. The wires I I are covered by a suitable fabric covering 20.

A back panel is attached to a vertical section 2I of the wire I I at the outer side of each breast pocket. In the embodiments shown in Figs; 1 to 5 each back panel comprises a lower strip 22 and an upper strip 23, each of which is formed with an inner surface 24 of sponge rubber and with an outer backing of woven one-way stretch material 25. The outer ends of the back strips 22 and 23 are attached to a stay 2'I and are provided with fastening means shown as eyes 28. It is to be understood that the cooperating back panel is of similar form and will be provided with hooks to register with the eyes 28.

The sponge rubber strips are secured to the backing material by suitable adhesive means, such as cement. Since both the sponge rubber and the woven backing material are pervious to air the construction provides ventilation which maintains the body cool and eliminates discomfort to the wearer which might otherwise be caused by` perspiration. The sponge rubber is characterized by a surface formed of a multiplicity of fine cells which have the property of gripping the skin without discomfort. It is to be 1 understood of course that the sponge rubber may be natural or artificial and that the sponge rubber layer may be separately formed and cemented to the backing materialV or may be cast thereon, or strips of sponge rubber may be woven therein, as desired. In any event a discontinuous surface 'of rubber is disposed to contact and grip the skin. The backing material for the back strap is preferably of woven elastic material which is capable of stretching in only one direction and which has the property of exerting a substantial pull when stretched. The back panels are made of a size such that they will be stretched some- 4 and lower strips of the forms of Figs. 1 to rI may be perforated or unperforated as desired.

Figs. 8-to 11 illustrate the invention as applied to a slightly different type of brassire comprising bust pockets 33 of open mesh material secured to a substantially circular wire 34 which extends around the periphery thereof. The bust pockets are joined by a wire portion 34 to form a comparatively rigid unit. In this embodiment a single back strap 35 is attached to the outer portion of each of the bust pockets and comprises an inner layer of sponge rubber 36 with an outer layer 31 of woven Y stretchable backing material of `the type above indicated.

,In order to increase the comfort to the wearer a soft tube 38 of suitable material, such las rubber, is placed over the wires 34 at the lower portion of the bust pockets and a panel 39 of the sponge rubber material above described is secured around the wires 34 and over the tube 38 at the lower portion of the bust pocket and is provided with a curved upper edge 4B which is stitched or otherwise secured to the fabric of the bust pockets.

The wire 34 is of course covered by a suitable fabric covering 4I.

what and secured under tension around the back Y of the wearer, thereby holding the gripping surfaces in firm contact with the skin;

The panels I8, as indicated more clearly in Fig. 4, form an extra support for the lower poi;- tions of the busts and prevent the same from slipping out of place in the bust pockets. They also increase the area of support which results in increased comfort to the wearer.

In the embodiment of Figs. 6 and 7 the brassire is similar to that above described except that the back panel is formed by a wide strip 29 of woven stretchable fabric to which both a lower strip 39 and an upper strip 3l of sponge rubber aresecured and the sponge rubber in the lower strip 30 is provided with a plurality of holes 32 which are disposed over the surface thereof. These holes, as pointed out above, provide additional air space and also form cups which increase the grip on the skin of the wearer, particularly afterthe strip has been stretched and then retracted somewhat on the body. It is to be understood Vthat similar holes may be provided in the upper back strip 3l if desired. These holes preferably extend entirely through the sponge rubber, but not through the backing strip, although they may constitute depressions in the surface of the sponge rubber which do not extend entirely therethrough. It is not necessary for the holes to extend through the backing strip inasmuch as this strip is Woven and highly pervious to air in any event. -Of courseboth upper Figs. 12, 13 and 14 show a brassire of the type of Figs. l to 7 as applied to the upper part of a slip and as forming a support for the slip. The brassire section is `given reference numerals similar to those of Figs. l to '7. The upper portion 45 of the slip is attached to the front strip I5 and to the back panels 29 of the brassire. The upper portion of the back of the slip is shown as 'divided land as secured by a zipper 46. When the zipper 46 is opened the back panels 4l of the slip may be opened with the back panels 29. When thev zipper is closed and the back panels 29 are secured together under tension, as indicated in Fig. 13, the gripping surfaces of the sponge rubber serve both to support the slip and the bust pockets.

4 In the embodiment shown in Fig. 14 the sponge rubber layer of the back panels is provided with a plurality of holes 49 similar to the construction shown in Fig. 6. In the embodiment of Fig. 15 the holes are omitted. It is to be understood that the particular construction selected depends upon the desired characteristics of the garment.

Garments of the above type yare readily washable. Other stretchable material having open pores and a gripping surface may be used in place of the sponge rubber, for example a porous material with stretchable rubber threads or bands woven or knitted therein and having discontinuous exposed portions forming gripping surfaces. In some instances the sponge rubber may be backed by an impervious stretchable sheet material such as sheet rubber, the ventilation being providedrby the pores of the sponge rubber. The backing material may be any knitted or woven stretchable material, preferably containing rubber threads.

What is claimed is:

1. A brassire comprising a pair of breast pockets of thin fabric having bottom and top edges, a strengthening member having outer ends and extending `across the bottom edges of said breast pockets joined thereto, stiifening members extending upwardly from said strengthening member to support upper edges of the fabric breast pockets, and back straps secured to the outer ends of said strengthening member to extend around the back of the wearer, said strengthening member being adapted to receive the entire pull-of said back straps, said back straps comprising a layer of peri/ions elastic material to exert a pull for securing the brassire, and a layer of sponge rubber' adliesively secured to said first layer on the inside of the back straps to cushion the pull of the iirst layer and to contact and grip the body of the wearer to prevent slippage of the back straps.

2. A brassire as set forth in claim 1, in which said sponge rubber is formed with a plurality of holes disposed over the surface thereof and ex- 10 tending uninterruptedly therethrough.

3. A brassire, as set forth in claim 1, in which said breast pockets are formed of thin fabric and inserts of sponge rubber disposed in the lower part of the breast pockets on the inside of said is Number fabric to contact and support the lower portion of the breasts.

4. In fa brassire, as set forth in claim l, a stiiening Wire extending around at least the lower portion of each of said breast pockets; a flexible tube disposed over said wire and a panel of sponge rubber disposed over said Wire and tube on the inside of the said garment to contact thebody of the wearer.

5. A brassire, as set forth in claim 1, in which said first layer comprises a woven elastic fabric.

ESTHER CADOUS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

`''NI'IED STATES PATENTS Name Date 2,035,257 Blaser Mar. 24, 1936 2,063,232 Davies Dec. 8, 1936 2,074,796 Mason Mar. 23, 1937 2,468,622 Glick Apr. 26, 1949 

